The Splendor of the Five Dynasties

Chapter 41 Kill First
Ultimately, it was Jie Hui's suggestion of "selling out one's master for personal gain" that was most effective, transforming Xiao Yi from a slave into Nie Wenjin's head of the guards.

There's only one problem left: Meng Ye is getting in the way.

"General, he might not be Shi Deyuan, trying to save Shi Dechong and Zhang Mantun from their escape."

Xiao Yi thought to himself that Meng Ye had really guessed wrong; he actually wanted to use those two people to help him escape.

He then said, “General, since Officer Meng is not at ease, you can let him come along to supervise me.”

Nie Wenjin gave Xiao Yi a cold look, his eyes carrying a warning, and snapped, "If Officer Meng leaves, do you still expect Shi Dechong and Zhang Mantun to cooperate?"

"Yes, General, you are right. One of them is afraid of Meng, and the other hates him; they cannot cooperate."

Xiao Yi realized that his intention to kill Meng Ye on the way had been seen through, and he feigned shame.

Meng Ye sneered and said, "The problem is not whether I go or not, but that Shi Dechong and Zhang Mantun are serious criminals, and the general probably cannot handle them on his own."

"I will inform the Emperor's brother-in-law."

Nie Wenjin was worried, but he was certainly not worried about letting Shi Dechong escape; rather, he was afraid of Wang Yin.

Xiao Yi realized that this coup group consisted of a young emperor, a treacherous Su Fengji, a madman Liu Zhu who slaughtered the entire Guo family, and Li Ye who sent such a fool. Only Nie Wenjin was doing his job seriously. He had finally found a strategist, but unfortunately, he would abandon him.

Meng Ye continued to obstruct, saying, "General, you believe his nonsense too much..."

Upon seeing this, Xiao Yi lowered his head, a flash of killing intent crossing his eyes.

"Officer Meng, are you burying your head in the sand out of fear of serious consequences, or are you deliberately leading the general to investigate the fictitious 'Second Master Shi'?"

"Question me? Who do you think you are?!"

"I'm just wondering, did you guide Shi Dechong and Zhang Mantun to give false confessions, wasting time and manpower, or do you have some ulterior motive? For example, to buy time for Wang Yin?"

"You... Shi Deyuan! You're turning around and accusing me? General Nie, let me interrogate him!"

Nie Wenjin waved his hand and ordered the two soldiers beside him, "Take him away and settle him in."

In an instant, Meng Ye's eyes were filled with resentment as he stared intently at Xiao Yi.

Xiao Yi simply smiled, as if mocking Meng Ye for bringing him here, his eyes filled with provocation.

"The truth is clear to the general. I will take my leave now."

Finally, he calmly bowed and left with the two soldiers.

After walking a dozen steps, Xiao Yi whispered something to the guards behind him.

"Did you see that? The general has decided to kill Meng Ye in order to subdue Zhang Mantun, on the grounds that he colluded with Wang Yin."

"Don't give us that nonsense, we don't even know you..."

The back office.

A secluded side room.

Inside the room was a table, a stool, an oil lamp, and a simple bed, which was probably used by the soldiers to rest when they were on duty.

"Wait here."

"Please wait a moment, both of you."

Xiao Yi called out to them and asked, "Could I wash up and change my clothes? And could I have some hot food? Soup noodles or eggs would be fine."

"You monkey... sigh, you have so many demands."

“I am not a criminal. General Nie has done me a great favor, and I plan to follow him to achieve great things.”

"So what? You want to stay at the Imperial Guard headquarters? You'll only be able to give orders once you've actually become a captain."

"I dare not accept such praise; we are all comrades-in-arms," ​​Xiao Yi said. "My name is Xiao Yi. May I ask your esteemed names, brothers?"

“Lü You, this is my brother, Lü Chou.”

"My name is Lü Chou. You can tell just by looking at me that it's definitely not because I'm ugly. Sigh, I was born in the year of Ji Chou, the year of the Ox, while my older brother was born in the year of Yi You, the year of the Rooster."

"So it's Brother Da Lü and Brother Xiao Lü."

"You're quite good at calling out," Lü Chou said happily.

Xiao Yi pointed to the bedding on the bed and said, "I smell of fish all over me. You don't want me to soil this place, do you? I should dress presentably for the commander-in-chief."

Lü You and Lü Chou were taken aback and exchanged a glance.

"Alright, you can wash up, but there's no soup noodles. I'll give you some extra dry food, dried meat, and a bowl of hot soup with each meal."

"Thank you."

"Wait."

After a while, they came in carrying a large, rough earthenware basin, along with soapberry pods, towels, a wooden ladle, and a stack of old robes.

Xiao Yi saw that there was no steam coming out of the ceramic basin and knew that it was cold water.

He took off his smelly clothes in the cold wind under the corridor, first washing off the medicine on his face to show his honesty, and then washing his body with cold water.

Bitingly cold.

My skin immediately broke out in goosebumps from the cold.

Fortunately, in his previous life, he often soaked his muscles in ice water after training to reduce inflammation. It might not be scientific, but it was just a habit.

Although there were guards watching him, he didn't care. He slowly and deliberately gritted his teeth, washed himself clean, and changed into his old robe.

"Damn, you really have some good assets."

Lu You admired him somewhat, took a deep breath, gave him a thumbs up, and reminded him, "But you should be careful not to let that Officer Meng bully you."

Lu Chou frowned, revealing deep thought, and sighed, "Every time I see that Officer Meng, I feel a tightness in my butt. Alas, I am too handsome."

"Who says otherwise? Damn it, killing someone is just a matter of a head falling to the ground, but if he defiles us, who will respect us in the future?"

"As the saying goes, 'A scholar can be killed but not humiliated.' Xiao Yi, you shouldn't have washed up. Didn't you see the way he looked at you just now?"

Lu You agreed wholeheartedly and cautioned, "The three of us are good-looking, so we all need to be careful."

Xiao Yi said, "He wouldn't dare, would he?"

"Ha, you're quite something, aren't you? You've got a big heart."

Xiao Yi looked frightened and said, "I just spoke too quickly. Now that I think about it, I regret it very much."

"It's too late to admit your mistake now. What? Can you go back and apologize to him?"

Xiao Yi took out a silver coin from his hair and handed it over, asking, "May I borrow a dagger for self-defense?"

"That won't work."

"Brother Lü is handsome and should understand my fear. This is the Imperial Guard's headquarters. What can a small dagger do? It's just to put my mind at ease."

"Impossible. The young master has a limited number of weapons. If something happens, it will implicate us."

Xiao Yi said, "The general appointed me as the captain of the guards, which is just to get my weapons sooner."

Lü You said, "Your sweet talk is useless. I carry a dagger with me like my wife, and I will not lend it out."

Xiao Yi had anticipated that they wouldn't lend him the money, but he still stuffed the loose silver into Lü Chou's hand, while his gaze fell on the crossbow quiver on Lü Chou's waist.

Knowing what he was thinking, Lü Chou quickly shook his head, refusing the money, and said, "It really won't do."

"If you don't want to lend it, fine. Take the money. It's not good to trouble you for nothing. We'll be dealing with each other often in the future."

"This……"

Xiao Yi smiled, turned around and went into the house, where he saw that the food had already been placed on the table.

He slowly chewed the flatbread, drank the hot soup, and dispelled the chill.

Then, he picked up the soup bowl, ready to smash it, using the broken porcelain for self-defense.

This was his backup plan.

Suddenly, there was a soft "click" outside the door. Xiao Yi pushed the door open and saw a crossbow bolt lying on the ground. He picked it up and saw that the shaft was short, thick, and sturdy, and the iron arrowhead gleamed coldly.

It seems that both Da Lü and Xiao Lü are on the right track.

He went back to his room, closed the door, put the pillow in the bedding, wrapped himself up like a human, but did not lie down. Instead, he blew out the oil lamp.

The room was plunged into darkness, with only the faint light from outside the window outlining the shapes of objects.

Xiao Yi, crossbow in hand, stood in the darkness beside the bed, waiting.

The night is as dark as ink, and everything is silent.

The room was pitch black, and Xiao Yi remained with his back against the cold wall, hidden in the shadows beside the bed.

Like a cheetah lying in wait.

He closed his eyes to rest, his muscles relaxed, but he remained alert.

Time slowly passed, and drowsiness washed over me like waves.

It seems Meng Ye isn't coming.

Xiao Yi wasn't entirely confident either, but he refused to lie down and become one with the wall.

"Squeak."

A very faint sound, yet enough to pierce the silence, rang out as the door was pushed open.

Instantly, Xiao Yi became alert, his muscles tensing as he gripped the crossbow bolt.

He quickly adjusted to the darkness and looked out the window, where he saw three figures passing by.

The first two were burly men, one holding a rope and the other a knife, while the last one was relatively thin, and that was Meng Ye.

As soon as they entered the room, they immediately noticed the bulging blankets on the bed.

Xiao Yi held his breath and waited for them to make their move.

One step, two steps...

Without hesitation, the first man strode forward, pulled the rope, and pressed it directly onto the bedding to bind the figure inside.

In the dim light, a sinister smile crept across Meng Ye's face.

That's it.

Xiao Yi suddenly moved.

He sprang from the darkness, his tightly gripped crossbow bolt flashing out like lightning, piercing straight into the side of the knife-wielding man's neck.

"puff."

The three-edged iron arrowhead tore through the flesh, and blood spurted out.

The man slowly fell to the ground, and the knife in his hand clattered to the ground.

Xiao Yi stepped on the knife, drew out a crossbow bolt, and with a spray of blood, stabbed at another person.

At the same time, the other party reacted quickly, and the rope was already around the back of his neck, crossed tightly, trying to strangle him.

Xiao Yi suddenly couldn't breathe and couldn't see the other person's body parts clearly, so he simply stabbed wildly with his crossbow.

"puff."

"puff."

"puff……"

During the struggle, he felt Meng Ye pulling out the knife that he had stepped on, so he kicked Meng Ye away with a heavy kick.

The rope around her neck tightened even more.

If he cannot get the person holding the rope to let go, he will be strangled to death first.

Xiao Yi expanded the range of the crossbow bolt, attempting to pierce the opponent's heart.

Several more muffled thuds followed; the crossbow bolts were stuck in the bone and couldn't be pulled out.

at last.

The rope around his neck was loosened, and the cold air rushing into his chest felt incredibly comfortable.

After catching his breath, Xiao Yi, without taking a break, picked up the knife on the ground and stabbed each of the two men on the ground twice.

There's also Meng Ye.

Xiao Yi looked around the room but didn't see anyone.

His breathing was too heavy, and he didn't hear Meng Ye make a sound.

So he took his knife and went outside. He glanced at the corridor to the left and right, but there were no guards and the corridor was empty.

"Ah."

Xiao Yi opened the door directly, letting the moonlight shine into the room. There was a table, a stool, a bed, two corpses, and blood all over the floor, but still no one was in sight.

"Meng Ye".

"Meng Ye".

No one answered.

Xiao Yi walked to the bedside and tapped the bed with the hilt of his sword.

There was a rustling sound coming from under the bed.

Xiao Yi was too lazy to climb in, poked around a few times, and scoffed, "Why die such a pathetic death?"

"I...I am the emperor's trusted confidant, how dare you kill me?"

"If you thought Li Ye would protect you, you would have gone to him to apologize long ago, instead of coming to deal with me."

"Don't kill me. To tell you the truth, I'm not a bad person. I had no choice but to do it... I feel disgusted with myself, but if I didn't do it, I couldn't control those arrogant thugs. I'm a pitiful person too. I... I only tortured Shi Dechong. My crime doesn't deserve to die... Don't you hate the Shi family too?"

"If they treat Shi Dechong this way, will they let others off the hook?"

"I'll release him, of course I'll release him, please don't kill me, please..."

The sound came from under the bed, filled with humility, fear, and despair, completely unlike the cold and perverted Xuanhuiyuan official he usually was.

Xiao Yi yanked off the quilt on the couch, revealing the bed frame.

"what!"

Meng Ye exclaimed in surprise and shrank to a position against the wall.

"Are you crying?"

"Don't kill me, please, I..."

Xiao Yi thrust his sword down.

With the blade pointing downwards, the sharp edge pierced through the crack in the bed board and into the flesh.

"puff."

The wailing stopped abruptly.

Instead, there was a groaning sound of being completely penetrated and unable to breathe, and a muffled thud as the body violently convulsed and slammed against the bed.

"puff."

Xiao Yi delivered the final blow, completely extinguishing Meng Ye's chances of survival.

There was no further sound under the bed.

(End of this chapter)